There’re tons of reasons to start using Bitcoin: the main is probably investing into something valuable. Most of the people I know started trading Bitcoin for this reason and then, a few of them, started their journey into the bitcoin rabbit hole. Sooner or later everyone of them faced (or will face) an important decision, asking themselves one or more of the following:
- should I go into other crypto?
- should I add some altcoins to my portfolio?
- why I’m not differentiating my investment?
Being attracted by other coins is normal, but it’s also one of the worst mistakes a new comer could do: Bitcoin is the only option we have. If you have no time to read the entire post and want to blindly trust me (I always advise against that) get out with this: focus all your efforts on Bitcoin only, i.e. your investments and before that your studies. It’s the safest solution you have from every point of view.
Now, if you have a couple of minutes here are some reasons why everyone should trash every coin other than Bitcoin.
1. History
Bitcoin, as a working implementation, is here since the 3rd of January 2009. The paper behind that implementation is here since the 31st of October 2008. All the other so called cyptos or altcoins were born years later: this is not a problem per se, but we can say without any doubt that Bitcoin has the longest stability track-record in the industry (in the world). The protocol proved its efficiency ever since so any feature has been stress tested like no other feature of no other chain of blocks.
2. Security
The first point - time - demonstrates also a good part of the second: since the Bitcoin protocol hasn’t been hacked ever since, we can safely say that the protocol itself is the most secure. Also, since it’s the most valuable crypto asset, we can assume it’s also the most targeted by attackers (acting for their own profit or for academic reasons) so, again, the most stress tested. But this could be tautological. The reality is that Bitcoin is the most secure asset also without taking longevity into account: it’s secure by design because it’s based on the best cryptographical solutions available. To crack Bitcoin security - let’s say the immutability of a block - you should crack the algorithms underlying all our visible world, like credit cards, military codes, etc. If that happens Bitcoin will be the last thing you’ll be worried of. One additional reason: its design doesn’t offer any incentive to a rational player to attack it and destroy it, it would be like cutting the branch you’re sit on or cut your arm off.
(sorry for these two figures of speech: they are probably very Italian, but I really like them)
One more reason? If you’ll have to protect all your cryptos you’ll have to protect each one of them, so every single one would require an additional (and probably different) effort exposing another surface of attack: it will be harder for you (for anyone) to protect more assets. You will end wasting time or money, or both. Even if you trust a very good multi-asset wallet the chances for that to be broken, for at least one asset, are higher and you could lose something. Going Bitcoin only is just safer as it is simpler.
3. Governance
We could say that Bitcoin is governed by nobody/anybody and fully decentralized but this wouldn’t be 100% true. There’re some aspects where a group of people could weight more than others - at least in the proposal mechanism - but the decision process is based on a specific, clear (ex-ante) consensus mechanism. The decision, about proposals (BIPs), are ultimately taken by the network based on their contribution. Most of all, any of these gray spots, is better than any other crypto asset governance systems. Most of them are centralized by design or de facto through different mechanism that allow companies or individuals to exercise any arbitrary decision they take. This is the case of many famous altcoins and it’s also the root cause of their limits: centralized governance is no different from fiat currencies without a central bank (which is in the end a source of trust) - so it’s more like fake money rather than USD or EUR - and without any provable track record of a whatsoever kind of reliability. Investing in a crypto asset governed by a centralized authority means giving your asset property rights to a rule-maker that could (and sooner or later will) rule against your interest, if it doesn’t match theirs.
4. Community
Bitcoin is supported by the largest community. This is beyond the industry (btw, another pro), it’s all about the amount of people talking daily about #Bitcoin, learning and trying to push Bitcoin forward: it’s the innovation engine. The community could look like a soft reason, but it’s not: having on your side the best minds in the world constantly working to add another innovation to the protocol is crucial. Another important point is how this community work: it’s not closed, on the contrary it’s very open but also, luckily, challenging. Any single proposal matters for its content and not for its author’s name. On top of this - and yes this is a soft reason - it’s the best at doing memes (and merch). You won’t find a more heterogenous community with those skills defending and improving their product.
5. Asset value
Bitcoin is an asset with its intrinsic value, first big difference with any other coin. The value - not the price - comes from the innovation, the community, the security, the history and the expectations. Bitcoin is a stronghold for all of those believing in a different kind of money (Hayek?), in a free world, in a different internet, in the web of trust, more in general in a world where proved work is valued and not a stake or an interest. Money, and the decisions about it, is the root cause of many world problems (famine, poverty, etc.) as well as the instrument that enabled amazing discoveries and prosperity. Bitcoin summarizes all the positive features we - as humanity - have understood money should have. So, it’s hope. No altcoin has this drive, so don’t waste a second on those.
6. Market value
I’ve put this at the very end because that’s exactly what I think. If I had 147 reasons to talk about why going Bitcoin only, I’d have put this as the 147th. Market value is not a root cause of the Bitcoin success, is the consequence. Getting into Bitcoin because of the market value means investing without knowing, which is always a bad decision: if you don’t know what you’re investing in, it’d very difficult for you to understand how to protect your investment and you will ultimately trust someone (or something). And this is exactly the problem Bitcoin, as an invention, solves: it allows a trustless environment to work without a trust authority. You don’t need to trust anyone, just yourself!
All the other coins don’t solve this or any other problem: best case they replicate Bitcoin, but without one or more of the points from 1 to 5. So, once again, there’s no much sense in buying some alt/shit-coin: their market value is lower by at least a 10x factor because of all these reasons. Don’t do that! Go Bitcoin only!!!